The embodiments described herein relate generally to methods for delivering a therapeutic material to treat pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is considered an almost chemoresistant tumor. The ineffective result of systemic chemotherapy is at least in part due to an insufficient drug concentration within the tumor because of dose-limited toxicity in bone marrow and epithelial tissue. Since systemic chemotherapy is limited its effectiveness, localized therapy can be desirable for advanced pancreatic cancer patients. For example, one such treatment can include local intra-arterial delivery of chemotherapy. Intra-arterial infusion allows higher drug concentration to reach the tumor, overcoming the problem of poor blood flow to tumor mass in comparison to healthy tissue. Furthermore, intra-arterial chemotherapy can also take advantage of the first pass effect of chemotherapeutics, generating higher-level drug concentrations at the tumor cell membrane and therefore, enhancing cellular drug uptake as compared to intravenous infusion. Lastly, local delivery can reduce systemic side effects.
Such a chemotherapy treatment is usually administered through catheters placed in the celiac/hepatic artery or portal vein, however, a best mode of catheter placement has yet to be established. The tumor response rates of pancreatic arterial infusion chemotherapy can range widely, for example, from 7% to 65%, at least in part due to efficacy of drug delivery where anticancer drugs were administered via the celiac artery without assessment of drug distribution. Thus, a need exists for improved methods for delivering a treatment such as a biologic agent and/or drug formation to target tissue of the pancreas, as well as hepatic tumors and cholangiocarinoma.